Unidentified photographer (American)
1855 (ca)
[Postmortem Portrait of an Infant]

Daguerreotype
J. Paul Getty Museum
Object Number: 84.XT.1582.7
 
(Curatorial description, accessed: 28 February 2023)
Posed as if sleeping peacefully, a small child rests her head against a crepe-covered pillow and her hands on a satin blanket.
 
"Secure the Shadow 'ere the Substance Fade," a popular advertising slogan, reminded customers that a daguerreotype portrait would last forever. Long after a child had grown or age had transformed youth, the daguerreotype would preserve the image of a loved one. The large number of postmortem portraits of children gives the slogan special poignancy, a sad reminder of the high mortality rates in the 1800s, particularly for children. The practice of postmortem photography persisted into the first decades of the twentieth century, particularly in African-American communities.
 
LL/126189